Thursday, November 8, 2012

Do I get the "ooos" and "aahs" from you?

As most of you know, I was recruited to be on the panel of judges for The Nutriplus Baking Competition. I guess I was what might be referred to as the local "anchor" judge as I was to join each day of the event.

Judges for the semi final -round 1

From left: Chef Bernard, Chef Federick and Quay Po

The competition took place over five days and a new panel of judges were empaneled each day, recruited from the many celebrated chefs here in Malaysia plus me. Needless to say it was a little intimidating. On the other hand, it afforded me a ring side seat for the flurry of creativity that took place and that was thrilling. The first four days of competitive baking were for the semi-finalists, selected from all of the applications. On the fifth day the four finalists from the previous four days met for the finals round.

Not only did I get to rub elbows with seasoned chefs (no pun intended) but I had the chance to watch other home chefs work their magic. Through observation, I gained knowledge about pastry making, not only from my fellow judges but also from the twelve very talented contestants.

Semi final - Round 1 contestants:

Semi final - Round 2 contestants:

Semi final - Round 3 contestants:

Semi final - Round 4 contestants:

The Charlotte recipe which I am going to share with you is
inspired by the Winner of this competition, Wendy Yip of "Table for Two or more".
Her winning bake was a water melon charlotte. She used ladies fingers, mousse and water melon. She made the ladies fingers from scratch.

I was inspired by Wendy to make one. I did not make the ladies fingers from scratch but used what I had
in my pantry which was store bought. For the fruits, I used strawberries and pineapple. Instead of making just mousse, I added American
sponge cake and marmalade jam to sandwich the mousse. There are many steps to
make this but the result is stunning and the taste of the charlotte was to die
for so it is all worth it. I can assure you that you will get lots of "ooos" and "aaahs" from the finished product. I want to see if I get that from you all. LOL!

Meanwhile
sift or whisk the sifted flour with the baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Place the
egg yolks and 2/3 cup (66 grams) of the sugar in the bowl. Use a hand mixer to
beat on high speed until they are thick, fluffy and light in color. Stop beating when you raise the beater and
the batter will fall back into the bowl in a slow ribbon. Add evanilla extract,
water, and lemon zest and mix well . Set aside while you beat the egg whites.

Whisk the
egg whites until foamy and continue whisking until soft peaks form. Gradually
add 1/3 cup (34 grams) of sugar and continue whisking until the egg whites are
shiny and just form stiff peaks.

Next, sift
the flour mixture over the beaten egg yolks. Gently but quickly foldthe flour into the egg yolk batter.
Then gently fold a little of the beaten egg whites into the batter to lighten it,
and then add the rest of the whites, folding just until incorporated Pour the
batter into cake pan and smooth the top.

Bake in
preheated oven for 28 - 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the
center of the cake comes out clean. Remove and allow the cake to cool
completely before unmolding (about one hour). Run a sharp knife around the
inside of the pan and then invert the cake onto a greased wire rack. When it is
completely cool, slice the cake into three pieces.

Ingredient
for Vanilla Mousse:

Adapted from
Shawn Scarborough

Ingredients:

1/3 cup of
sugar

2 tbs of
cornstarch

1 1/2 cups
of full cream milk

1 tsp pure
vanilla extract

1 cup
whipped cream (see the recipe below)

Method to
make the mousse:

Combine the
milk, cornstarch and sugar to a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat
and simmer for about three minutes, stirring constantly to prevent sticking.
Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow to cool completely.

Pour the
contents of the saucepan into a mixing bowl and add the vanilla extract. Stir
in the vanilla extract. Fold in the whipped cream and refrigerate for at least
one hour.

Fruits:

Strawberries
- cut off the top

Pineapple -
diced

To assemble
of the Charlotte:

To arrange
cakes, ladies finger in 7 inch diameter cake pan:

Use a 7 inch
cake pan, lay a parchment paper at the bottom and grease the side with oil or
butter. Place one piece of cake at the bottom and line the sides with ladies
fingers. Apply jam and ¾ of an inch mouse, put another piece of cake, repeat
the process and end with the last piece of cake. Put in the fridge to chill for
one day.Prepare stabilized
whipped cream(see recipe below) just before serving and top the charlotte with
a layer of whipped cream as the same level of the top of ladies fingers. Arrange
the fruits and tie a ribbon.

Stabilized Whipped
Cream:

Ingredients:

2 tbs cold
water

1 tsp unflavored
gelatin

2 cups (1
pint) chilled whipping cream

2 tsp
vanilla extract

2 tbs icing
sugar

Method:

Prepare the
gelatin: Place the dry gelatin in a small bowl. Pour cold water over it. Let it
bloom for 5 minutes. Dissolve by placing it in a container over a small pot of
simmering water. Set aside to let cool.

Next, place
the empty bowl and whisk in the
freezer to quickly chill. Beat cream on high speed in its pre-chilled mixer
bowl. Just before it becomes soft and billowy, slowly add the sugar and vanilla
extract to the whipped cream at the sides of the bowl. Continue to whip on high
speed until the cream barely starts to stiffen. Stop the whipping. Take about 2
tablespoons of the cream from the mixer bowl and stir it into the cooled
gelatin. Return the cream/ gelatin mixture back into the main mixing bowl with
the rest of the semi-whipped cream. Continue to whip the cream on high until
soft peaks form. Finish whisking till the right consistency. Cover and refrigerate.

complicated and if I need to bake this i think i will need an extra pair of helping hands. Next time you make such a complicated recipe....i want to ring your bell and enter your house to learn from scratch.ahhahahahhah

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MEET QUAY PO

A LITTLE ABOUT THIS QUAY PO

Before I was married to my "Quay Lo" (Guaylo) husband, I did not know how to bake or cook. Subsequently I learned some baking and cooking Western cuisine from him, and providing his food for him launched an interest in cooking in general. Many of my Chinese friends and family told me that "Quay" is the wrong spelling for devil in Cantonese. The right spelling should be "Kwai" or "Guay". Well, somehow I like the spelling "Quay" better although I have to agree that it does not sound very Cantonese. Try asking a Westerner to pronounce "Kwai" and you will probably hear "Quay" haha. Whether is "Quay" or "Kwai" or "Guay, just know the devil woman is me when you see Quay Po Cooks. My hubby said if people pronounce "Quay" as "Key" is even better because I am the key to his heart. LOL!

Only now, have I started to learn the traditional Cantonese cuisine of my Mum. She cooks fabulously and all her specialties are divine. These two interests, my husband's Western food, and my mother's traditional food, prompted me to document them so they will not be lost.

Here, I wish to share my cooking and baking experience with my readers. I also hope to inspire those who do not know how to cook or bake to do so because, trust me, if I can, you can too.

Something I'd like to mention is that I find that many people are rather unwilling to share their recipes. However, for me, I think differently. I think good recipes should be shared thus allowing as many people to enjoy it as possible. Unless those recipes are for doing business, I don't see why we want to keep them all to ourselves. So if you are generous in sharing your recipes, you are welcome to share on my blog. Send the recipes to me and better still with pictures of the final products and I will be very happy to post them them with credits to you of course.

Our cuisine is a deeply embedded part of our culture. When two cultures come together under the same roof the results in the kitchen can sometimes be comedic, sometimes confrontational, but more often it is a journey full of surprises and discovery. There is joy in our food. If we think upon this, it is intuitively obvious. This blog is a journey of joy and sharing, reflecting what the French like to call "joie de vivre" (joy of living). No one could be more different from one another then my husband and my mother. Yet one thing they share in common is knowing intuitively that food, cooking, and sharing can be avenues of joy in life itself. So herein, help yourself, to a little joy and , if you like it, share it with your own family and friends. Joy is something that should be shared.

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AWARDS

I wish to thank those who have given me AWARDS. I feel really honored and thankful to you all. I have decided not to display the awards in my blog or pass it on because I feel it is impossible for me to pass it on to all the deserving blogs. They are so many and I do not feel comfortable leaving anyone out. I hope you appreciate how I feel. Once again Thanks a Million for thinking of me.